Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Regulation and Code Amendments Technical Briefing May 22, 2018
Agenda • Occupational Health and Safety Act prompted changes • Stakeholder consultation • OHS Regulation amendments – Joint work site health and safety committees ( HSC) and health and safety representatives (representatives) • OHS Code amendments – Harassment – Violence – Joint work site health and safety committees and health and safety representatives – Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System • Administrative Amendments • Implementation 2
Occupational Health and Safety Act • The new OHS Act sets a framework for HSC and representatives, and prevention of workplace harassment and violence – HSC and representatives will now be required for work sites of a certain size – Employers and supervisors are responsible to prevent harassment and violence and workers to refrain from these activities 3
Regulatory Changes • Additional detail is now provided in regulation to clarify how employers will meet their new responsibilities – Prevention of and addressing workplace harassment and violence – HSCs and representatives’ functions, approvals and training • Regulatory updates also include: – Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) 2015 changes – Administrative amendments to align the OHS Regulation and OHS Code with the new OHS Act 4
Stakeholder Consultation 5
Consultation Summary • Consultation was open to Albertans from March 12 to April 9, 2018 • Received 132 written submissions from employers, workers and OHS professionals. General comments include: – Desire for government to provide resources such as guidelines, approved training resources and templates – Important to balance protection of privacy with OHS, communication of threat assessments, H&S records
Changes to the OHS Regulation 7
Roles and Responsibilities of Work Site Parties • The new OHS Act introduced the supervisor as a work site party • Requirements for the use of personal protective equipment should align with roles and responsibilities in the new OHS Act • If a worker must use or wear specific equipment, the employer and supervisor must ensure that they do so – This is a ticketing provision, employers and supervisors could receive OHS violation tickets in case of infraction 8
HSC and Representatives • The new OHS Act requires HSC members and representatives to receive training • The Minister will establish the curriculum to train HSC co- chairs and representatives which includes: – Roles and responsibilities of work site parties – Rights of workers – How the designated organization will address the legislative responsibilities of workers and employers in training delivery – Balanced delivery 9
HSC and Representatives • The OHS Act allows an employer to apply for an approval to vary from the HSC or the designation of a health and safety representative legislative requirements • For an application, the employer must provide: – Name and contact information – Numbers of workers at work sites – Type and nature of work – Number and nature of injuries or incidents reported and investigated during past year – Proposed procedures for workers to communicate issues – Proposed alternatives to a HSC or representative – Proposed work site inspection schedule – Documentation showing support from workers 10
HSC and Representatives • Criteria added for a Statutory Director to consider when deciding if an approval may be issued: – Information provided by the employer – The effect an approval could have on the health and safety of a worker or other person – Relevant history of compliance or non-compliance with the OHS legislation – Any other criteria considered appropriate • If an approval is issued and there are subsequent changes to the information, the employer must notify the Director of those changes in writing 11
Changes to the OHS Code 12
Health and Safety Committees and Representatives 13
HSC and Representatives • HSC must establish a terms of reference with the following elements: – Representation of health and safety concerns by membership – Process for replacing a member during their term of office – Dispute resolution process when a committee fails to reach a consensus on making a recommendation to the employer, prime contractor or owner – Processes for coordinating with other HSC established by the employer • HSC must inspect each work site at least once before each quarterly committee meeting to identify hazards that have not been controlled • HSC, its members or representative must not disclose a worker’s personal health information or any other personal information unless required by law 14
HSC and Representatives • Employers, contractors and prime contractors must: – Consult and cooperate with HSC and representatives to develop OHS policies, procedures and codes of practice – Provide members of committees and representatives with reasonable opportunity to inform workers on OHS matters – Ensure that HSC and representatives are allowed to examine records, policies, plans, procedures, codes of practice, reports or manufacturer specifications – Distribute to HSC and representatives any information or documents addressed to them as soon as reasonably practicable 15
HSC and Representatives • Where feasible, OHS officers conducting inspections of work sites must request a HSC co-chair who represents the workers or the co- chair’s designate, or a representative be present at the inspection – The employer must provide that person with time away to attend the inspection 16
HSC and Representatives Training • The new OHS Act requires HSC co-chairs and HS representatives to be allowed 16 hours or two shifts for training for their roles • Employers and prime contractors must use an organization approved by the Minister for the required training for HSC co-chairs, members and representatives • Training criteria and a list of approved providers are under development and will be posted online when available • Information on how to become an approved trainer will be available soon 17
HSC and Representatives Training • Free introductory 2-hour course for co-chairs and representatives developed in partnership with the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety • Available at: https://www.ccohs.ca/distributors/alberta/ • Participants will receive a certificate and a two hour credit toward their mandatory training requirements • Facilitated learning will be approximately 6 hours 18
Violence and Harassment 19
Violence • Employers must develop and implement a workplace violence prevention plan with their HSC or representative if in place, or if there is none, then with affected workers • The plan must include policy and procedures • The violence prevention policy must include set statements: – The employer is committed to addressing violence – Incidents will be investigated and corrective action taken – Confidentiality of information will be maintained – Policy is not intended to discourage workers from exercising other rights under law 20
Violence • Violence prevention procedures must include: – Measures to eliminate or control violence hazards – Information about the hazard in the workplace – How to disclose information on hazards of violence – How a worker can obtain immediate assistance when incidents occur – Reporting of incidents – Documentation and investigation of incidents – Informing affected parties of the outcomes of investigations 21
Violence • Provisions were also added to Part 27 as a result of Bill 19, An Act to Protect Gas and Convenience Store Workers – A violence prevention plan is required with prescribed elements – Workers must be trained on the plan – Workers who work alone must wear a personal emergency transmitter – Customers must prepay for fuel (alternatives may be approved by a statutory Director) 22
Domestic Violence • The definition of violence under the new OHS Act includes domestic violence • The employer must take every reasonable precaution to protect workers and any other persons at the work site likely to be affected by domestic violence that comes into the workplace 23
Harassment • Employers must develop and implement a workplace harassment prevention plan with their HSC or representative if in place, or if there is none, then with affected workers • The plan must include a policy and procedures • The harassment prevention policy must include the following: – The employer is committed to eliminating or controlling harassment – Harassment incidents will be investigated and corrective actions taken – Confidentiality of information will be maintained – Policy is not intended to discourage a workers from exercising rights under any other law, including the Alberta Human Rights Act 24
Harassment • Harassment prevention procedures must include: – How workers report incidents – Documentation, investigation of incidents by the employer and prevention procedures – Informing affected parties of the outcomes of investigations 25
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